i was fat last year?

i bumped into ole wolvie in a recent local meet-up where like-minded people got together for a common interest (well, at least thats what i went there for).

he said he could not recognize me as i had slimmed down a lot!!! hey, was i that fat then?

anyway, i was glad to meet him in person - it was like fate... so carefree... so un-pretentious...

お久しぶり、ole wolvie san...

me then...


me now...

hakone and mt fuji

we were lucky that it was a very clear day and mt fuji could be seen. can you see the iconic mt fuji in the picture?

more pictures of cateriam

tera could be in heat now, she kept rolling on the floor. btw, she's an ocicat and scottish fold mix

isnt this ponchi adorable? look at her innocent eyes!


this is dori - a ragdoll. she's rather inactive, prefer to pass her time in the basket


this is my favourite - airu, a calico maine coon. her fur is so soft, i kept molesting her! hehe..


cafe area


kaypoh cats checking out our jackets

xmas lighting at shiodome

cat cafe

more and more cat cafes are opening up in japan.

this time i went to one in 下北沢 called cateriam, opened in july 2008.

even though there were only 8 cats, i had lots of fun, and missed my babies at home.

sleeping black cat - can you see its pink tongue and white whiskers? this one is koko.

chincilla cat - even though i am not a fan of flat face, i find ponchi very cute!




and finally, tera sucking on my arm! on cateriam's website, it is written that tera likes humans wearing short sleeve tops - AHA!

long overdue!

paiseh paiseh... i had all the intention to blog on a daily basis in tokyo. alas! i had to be a babysitter cum tour guide, that the dual role drained my energy by the end of each day.

btw, i think this will be my last trip in a long time. flipping through my passport, i realised i set foot in japan 7 times in the last 5 years! also, i made 4 overseas trips in 2008, adding up to 1.5 months or 50 days! and thats not counting the short quickies like bangkok and penang

so, here comes the pictures... this time, i did not bring my trusty panasonic lumix, as the new 4gb sd card i bought could not be used in the old lumix. most pictures were taken with handphone or by travel partner.

this shinjuku shot was taken from my 31st floor room at hilton.


foreigners can no longer buy cigarettes from vending machines, as japan has implemented a control system whereby one has to tap an id card called taspo. buying from cigarette shops actually makes no difference, ie price is the same, and sometimes the pack comes with free lighter or portable ashtray, all at the same price!

i promise...

to update my blog for my trip everyday!

yes, heading to the land of cats again... this time half on business, half on leisure.

this is actually my first business trip to japan. and even though company is in bad shape, in survival mode, i still get to go! well, considering the potential saving i am going to bring to the company, i guess it is a justifiable trip (or so i'd like to think).

this blog has been kinda dead since marital woes kicked in.

well, i assure my readers (you guys still there?) this is going to be a fun trip, so look out from tomorrow onwards!

meow...

what a sleepy afternoon

cute cat commercials

http://www.jalan.net/jalan/doc/campaign/summer2007/nyalan/index.html

chanced upon this while searching for accomodation in japan (yes, i am heading to the land of neko again!).

click on the 30秒ver. the 1st one is my fav!

yummy kyoto sabo dessert and my weight

i just went for annual medical checkup.

i now weigh 59kg with body fat of 27.7%.

i is sad, but i still cant resist yummy dessert like this........

check out this website - cheap clothes

with everything going up in prices, this is a great website for cheap clothes!



i am placing my first order with them... ^-^

we will miss you lincoln

this afternoon when i went to visit him, he was already very weak and very cold. vet said it could be the drip and put a heat pad for him.

at 4.30pm, vet suddenly called me to say he had difficulty breathing. when i rushed down he already collapsed and was on live support machine.

his heart stopped after 10 mins. guess he wanted to wait for me to come and syaang him and say good-bye.

you will be missed, lincoln my dear boy...

get well soon, lincoln

this afternoon, lincoln was admitted into Allpets Clinic.

he was having diarrhea for a week now, after accidentally licking some melted butter!

he was warded after the vet diagnosed him as being extremely dehydrated and running a fever. it could be his intestines are messed up from the butter (high fat content, which their intestines cannot breakdown).

lincoln, get well soon. we want you back (but not to irritate us).

love,
weiwei, cleo, chloe and coco

why the long silence

after a troubled and turmoiled 4 months, WE have decided to get a divorce.

i never thought i would have to choose between human and cat, but i guess... cest la vie!

after a long silence

we are back... with a new cat bed!

san francisco

i will be stopping over at san francisco for 2 days on the way back from boston.

any recommendation for nice walking area? especially cat-related stuff?...

help...

me idiot in USA..

^-^

newsflash

~~reported by cleo~~

on 26 june 2008, ksn quarreled with that ill-bred boss, and even banged table wor!

according to eye witnesses at the scene, ksn, boss and the 2 service managers (read : engineers) were having their weekly service meeting, when the ib boss commented that the big boss (who's due in town next week) always say the singapore team has no teamwork.

bcos ksn was very frustrated that she had to deal with the iso preps by herself (not without TEAMWORK from her young team) she blurted that the singapore team really had no teamwork.

ib boss got really upset(later ksn learnt that ib boss has always been sensitive to this teamwork thing, but i think he is just in self-denial mode), and challenged ksn what she meant by that.

ksn cited the example of when the demanding customer wanted a quote on a certain spare part, she could not get the assistance from a cetain engineer and his manager(read : lazy).

ib boss refused to listen, and started shouting and accused ksn of not communcating with the engineer and manager. there was teamwork all right, it's just she had problem n communication.

of course ksn was very angry, because she stayed back to call the US factory AT NIGHT to seek advice on the subject matter, and worse, she learnt from ib boss that she was NOT supposed to contact the factory directly. what was she supposed to do? she just wanted to get back to the demanding customer as quickly as possible.

one thing i must tell you about this ksn. she cries easily. however, it was not tears of weakness, it was tears of anger!!

so in the midst of shouting and banging table by the ib boss, ksn reciprocated by banging table and argued back, with tears of anger.

i wish i could help ksn. she really was trying to do her job. later ib boss had a one-to-one talk with her after the eventful meeting, and told her basically she had to follow his lead, or else he will make life VERY DIFFICULT for her. he even cited what he did to her predecessor.

ksn is very perplexed. she knows she is doing the right thing, yet she is penalised for that, and the real reason she thinks is the company is so slow and messy, whatever she does now will piss those lazy people off, bcos she is rocking the boat.

i noticed that this weekend, ksn never brought her laptop home. i think she has given up trying to do the right thing. afterall, if you cant beat them, join them lor.

what do you think?

useless reply

Dear Ms Tan, Thank you for your feedback. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused. We will highlight your feedback to our FairPrice Serangoon North Avenue 1 branch and the respective department and take actions to make the necessary action. We would also inform the relevant department of your suggestion for their review and consideration. Once again, we would like to thank you for your feedback and we look forward to serving you soon.

Please do not hesitate to contact our customer service hotline at 1800 552 2722, or email at general.feedback@fairprice.com.sg should have any enquiries.


Thank you & regards, Elaine Yeo
Customer Relations Officer

complaint letter to fairprice

I would like to feedback on the outlet at Serangoon North Ave 1.

It is frequently out of stock for many items. For example, today at 6pm, I went to get drinks. The shelf was empty for 1) Pokka Green Tea 2) Marigold Lemon Tea 3) Marigold Apple.

The service for this outlet is also not very good. There are always cartons in the aisles during peak hours, causing bottlenecks and difficulty to get products from the shelves. If I am not wrong, this outlet was recently renovated.

Please do something about it. I am from the FMCG industry and I am aware that most retail companies including Fairprice impose a fine on suppliers who are out of stock for listed skus. Then, why arent the drinks on the shelves and the shelves are literally EMPTY.

Thanks.

long silence

i just realised i havent been blogging for almost a month!

what have i been up to?

1. coming back on saturday to clear up inventory mess in warehouse
2. working 12 hour days mon-fri
3. preparing for stupid iso re-certification. apparently no one has been complying to the processes, now all trying to 生 documents that date back 1 year ago
4. correcting staff who have been working brainlessly for the last 2-8 years!

will be heading to boston again in late july. this time i know where to shop liao, and what to get (no more coach stuff for me)

will update again SOON

melting...

it's a hot day...

coach items for sale

bought these in US, and would like to sell. consider them... impulse buy mistakes!

1) New HAMPTONS LEATHER NEW FRENCH PURSE
http://www.coach.com/content/product.aspx?product_no=10555&category_id=1270

used once only. too bulky for me... but oh, the pink was so pretty i couldnt resist

2) SIGNATURE STRIPE SHOULDER BAG
http://www.coach.com/content/product.aspx?product_no=10653&category_id=621

used twice. too small for me...

interested parties, please contact me at nitrolil at yahoo.com.sg.

price is always negotiable ;)

here are the actual photos of my stuff

random post about work

so i have been in the new company for 1 month already.

it has been an adventure, to be sent to eastern US before i barely warm my seat in the office.

i have been back for 1 week, and finally, i have recovered from jetlag.

thinking back, the 2-week US trip was nothing compared to what i have to face back home.

my boss whom everyone fears (because he will not hesitate to reprimand you in front of everyone else), stammers in front of the big boss!

it's not that he is not aware of his inconsideration. in fact, he told me on my first day, that he has a temper.

i dont think it is a temper he has. i think he is just ill-bred. he has the rudest habit of interrupting others. and he will start by saying, "sorry to cut you off, ...."

well, DONT. he is non-repentant. he is just RUDE.

the first time he did it to me, i just STARED at him. i could not believe it.

such a young, respectable, hardworking, and well-dressed director, he is just RUDE.

i think everyone has been giving in to his rudeness, thats why he flaunts it legally.

everyone else are guys, so i guess they dont give a shit.

well, i DO. it's called MANNERS.

i have to think of how to stop this rudeness of his, at least when he is in a meeting with me.

otherwise, lots of challenges and interesting problems awaiting me to conquer!

scenic drive

the is the east coast of usa in marblehead, massacheusetts. we can actually see the alantic ocean

this personal pizza from pizza hut was very very nice. the crust was thin (though it looked thick to me). there were a lot of cheese and sausage inside. it cost U$4 only. cheaper and much nicer than our local pizza hut.


i had lots of clam chowder at different places.

this indian tandoori chicken set from my office cafeteria. chicken was edible. rice was.. er... not very good. it was a big portion though, for a price of U$7


this lobster quesadilla was very nice, though it could do better with more lobster! the lobster meat was very sweet and juicy!


this grilled shrimp pasta was a little weird in taste. sourish, and dunno why they put pieces of pork and corn inside this dish. the combination was weird...

to wrap up my US trip

if anyone is wondering why i am up so early, it's bcos my body thinks it is 6pm...

yes, the amazing jetlag. actually it has nothing to do with the aeroplane i took, save for it took me to my destination. shouldnt it be called time lag? haha..

so, to wrap up my trip, i guess it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be, though i put on 1 kg from all the pizzas and bread and seafood and clam chowder, my colleagues took really good care of me. and in a country like US, most wouldnt go such a way out, to take me out on scenic drives and sunday lunches.

i made a week of roast beef sandwich for breakfast, since eating out was really expensive, and i wouldnt want to spend my allowance on food! the roast beef was very tender and yummy.


when i arrived, the weather was very cold, and the trees were bare.



when i was leaving, the weather warmed up, the flowers were blooming!

foodcourt food

17 years ago, i visited vancouver and edmonton on the polytechnic exchange program. the asian food at that time was terrible. lots of msg, didnt even taste close to the real thing.

17 years later, i must say i am pleasantly surprised that the asian food tastes better. though not like what we have at home, it is passable, taste similar to some of our coffee shops or foodcourts.

cost is about U$6, expensive, but the portion is huge! 2 persons can share.

chicken teriyaki with rice
fish with rice and mixed vegetables